I was a fan of this series... when I was SEVEN YEARS OLD. Even then, though, at an age and maturity where I possessed no critical discernment whatsoever and loved any movie or show with action or in space, I could somehow sense that this show wasn't really that good and was very cheesy.
Recently, out of curiosity because of the excellent 2004 series that bears the same name, and because Netflix offered me some free hours of instant viewing, I watched the old series again. Not only did it confirm my 7-year old memories, but it actually turned out to be worse than I imagined: trite, bad special effects, completely devoid not only of any authentic drama but amazingly any excitement or visceral action, mediocre acting, insipid writing, etcetera, etcetera.
The ONLY appeal it could have to anyone above the age of let's say, 12, is camp. Even then, since the series hilariously took itself seriously, the camp is not as much as you'd expect. The barebones of the plot -- that our Earth was once one of 13 colonies of a futuristic civlization that bears many similarities to our own Ancient Greece -- does have some interest but they do little with it. Actually, I take the first statement of this paragraph somewhat back because no 12 year old today is going to watch this, as its special effects are laughable and the action is so so lukewarm.
It's pretty sad when the best and most dramatic acting of your first episode is by RICK SPRINGFIELD. NO JOKE.
I won't even compare this to the recent 2004 remake since they are so far apart in quality, and it's very unfortunate that the 2004 remake bears the same name as this series because it's lost a lot of potential viewers and accolades because of it. This original series is exactly the same quality as the Buck Rodgers movie and TV series starring Gil Gerard that came out at the same time. However, that TV series was more fun because it knew it wasn't that good from the get go and didn't take itself so seriously.
Recently, out of curiosity because of the excellent 2004 series that bears the same name, and because Netflix offered me some free hours of instant viewing, I watched the old series again. Not only did it confirm my 7-year old memories, but it actually turned out to be worse than I imagined: trite, bad special effects, completely devoid not only of any authentic drama but amazingly any excitement or visceral action, mediocre acting, insipid writing, etcetera, etcetera.
The ONLY appeal it could have to anyone above the age of let's say, 12, is camp. Even then, since the series hilariously took itself seriously, the camp is not as much as you'd expect. The barebones of the plot -- that our Earth was once one of 13 colonies of a futuristic civlization that bears many similarities to our own Ancient Greece -- does have some interest but they do little with it. Actually, I take the first statement of this paragraph somewhat back because no 12 year old today is going to watch this, as its special effects are laughable and the action is so so lukewarm.
It's pretty sad when the best and most dramatic acting of your first episode is by RICK SPRINGFIELD. NO JOKE.
I won't even compare this to the recent 2004 remake since they are so far apart in quality, and it's very unfortunate that the 2004 remake bears the same name as this series because it's lost a lot of potential viewers and accolades because of it. This original series is exactly the same quality as the Buck Rodgers movie and TV series starring Gil Gerard that came out at the same time. However, that TV series was more fun because it knew it wasn't that good from the get go and didn't take itself so seriously.